3 Rivers Singles 2009

All players had their sights set on the ace prize, as usual for a round @ River Ranch Disc Golf Course. Tall weeds and high spirits gave way to somber thoughts of lost discs, as Brad threw an early shot into the ditch on #4. Chris goes OB deep on #6, and gets an easy bird with Mark on #7. Was Chris getting fatigued, or was someone playing a joke him? A birdie on 8 and a near ace chain-out on 10 nearly rubbed it in their face!! Ryan and Mark both went OB on #13, leaving the group dumbfounded. A star par on the alternate hole after 13 and a few missed opportunities on 14 before a water shot to #15. Mark found his Boss after it managed to float ashore, whew!! A couple Ob's on 16 and one on 17. Chris watched Ryan creep back into the mix as his birdie putt chained out on 18. Ryan then parks alternate hole 18 while Chris lands a little short. Then Chris sees another putt bounce off the basket, giving Ryan the tie he needed to retain #1. That was an interesting round indeed. The CTP this week goes to Brad as he edges out his brother for the win in the final round. It's nice to see the high scorer bounce back and salvage something from the wreckage of his day's poor shooting, well done Bro!

With only nine players waiting for the decision, Ronnie showed up at the last minute to give us the even number we wanted. Epple Doubles was on!! Some slow scoring in the beginning soon gave way to birdie fest from Chris and Eric as they lengthened their lead slowly throughout the round. Mark Frazier sent his Beast on #6 to the center of the chains, only to be denied of his first ace with a bounce out!! Still a sweet shot, you'll get yours soon. After 8 birds in a row no one was going to catch up to Elbo and CBass @ minus 14. The groups reconvened on hole 1 to find out we had a stalemate between Eli / Ronnie and Ryan /Deione @ 10 down. After taking a vote for a winner take all payout, the sudden death playoff began on hole 2. The pairs matched birds to start and then Eli kept his team alive on #3 with a superb putt. Neither team backed down and they found themselves squaring off on hole 1. Ronnie fell a little short, Eli sailed OB along with Deione and Ryan nestled his team fairly close with his best shot of the day on #1. Eli and Ronnie both missed their "go for " putts and Ryan cashed in the victory with his trusty Dart, nice job making the putt when it mattered most.

Even with no rain in a few days prior to Saturdays league, the group was greeted with Greeley's only water hazard at Pioneer Park. The lagoon was a little more than swampy, but did not inundate the baskets, so game on!!
After a group decision to throw singles, three groups teed off with hopes of the big ace prize. Naturally, Pioneer doesn't disappoint with it's many ace runs, even in the long positions! Chris took aim early, hitting the basket with his drive on #2. Matt skipped one into the post on #3, the longest hole, nice work. What was a close race at the turn, turned into the ususal suspects pushing for the lead. Several players found their scores held back by intermittent breezes and the somewhat daunting possibility of a water foul. Chris and Matt tied @ -1, Eli @ -2, and Ryan @ -4. Brad had to borrow his Bro's boots on two occasions as, much to his dismay, found himself wading throught the tall cattails searching for errant throws.
With the switch now turned to the "on" position, Chris proceeded to birdie 6 in a row and eight of ten holes on the 2nd half!! How many ace runs did he have anyway? Eli then stalled out and found himself tied with Matt, while Chris' surge was not enough to catch the infamous whiz kid, Ryan Foose @ 9 down.
For what seemed as the first time, all players present finished with the exact same tag as they had started with. Whoa. No shakeups today.
The CTP brought the group some excitement this week again as 9 players were widdled to four and then to 2. Adam won round 2 by a large margin but fell out when Chris hit one off the basket and nearly skips too far, but remained close enough for the final pairing. Ryan and Chris squared off one last time; with Deione judging the operations, Ryan floated a sidearm just in front of the basket. Chris throws the ever trusty Cro left of the mark and inside of Ryan's toss to thwart his attempts at a daily sweep! See you next time.

When the players drew cards for River Ranch Doubles this morning we immediately had a front running team in Eric and Ryan. They did not disappoint, turning in a new club record minus 15 score!! Deione and Eli finished in a tie for 2nd place today, but it was Deione that stole the show with his skip ace on #11. $107.50, not a bad days work at the course, D. Our alternate holes may be solid enough to stay in use even after the course is repaired, we'll see... Epple alternates return next week, we've been waiting so this will be surefire good time.

High clouds kept things cool for our rounds today @ UNC. The course provided some good challenges and some ace runs that were nearly taken advantage of. Chris glanced one off the basket on hole #3 and Eric and Jamie almost canned a couple as well. Jamie on hole #14 and Eric on hole #8. We will definitely set this configuration up again in the future, everyone seemed to enjoy the layout even though #8 is missing. 13 straight for CBass and Co!!

Great weather welcomed us again today, I guess it's paybacks for all the rough weekends. Quite a few close calls were thrown out towards claiming the ace pot today, but no one wound up successful yet again. Two aternate holes were used to replace 1 and 2 while construction continues. While Eric Lind looked strong early, he simply stalled out after an unsightly bogey on hole 12, maybe next time ELbo. Surprise, surprise, CBass birdies 9 out of the last ten on the way to a personal best and a record singles league score of minus 13!!! The record would still stand if not for the sweet field ace on #9 after going O.B. Nice Job. Good job to all, as no discs were lost on the day. (I'm sure Ronnie found his after a good swim on hole 16...). Did I mention what a georgeous day it was? WOW.

For once in the last several weeks, the weather could not have been better, as we shot the Ft. Morgan Optimist this time around. Even though we traveled an hour from home, our turnout was better than normal for this last weekend of May. Fourteen players came to test their skills as spirits soared as high as the clouds above, making this trip a great time for everyone. No ace runs were reported today as the pot grows higher still, tipping $200 once again. Eric put up a valiant effort as he fought off some early bogeys to take the lead, only to relinquish his position to CBass and finish with a minus 2. River Ranch next week, see you there!!

Yet again the weather was less than desirable for play @ Epple park this morning. Eric Lind was determined not to let that slow him down on his way to a minus 9, and moving back up to #3 tag, nice job! Brad falters again while trying not to throw out his back due to the poor footing on the course. There's always next time. :) Jamie shoots a solid seven down to come in third place. Eli forgot his glasses and wasn't able to tell where the O.B. started and stopped, netting him a 58. Eleven down got the job done once again for CBass on his way to a record ninth consecutive league victory. Optimist next week, don't miss out!!

Mist rained down on the course as the players drew cards for teams @ the first doubles event of 2009. Of all the courses 3Rivers plays, Epple Park has the most ace runs when played as (3) 6-hole rounds. That said, no one seems to come as close there as they do at other area courses, hmmm... Brad and Ronnie turned in an impressive bogey free round, but the lack of birdies was their eventual downfall, netting them a minus 5 score. Eli nearly canned an ace on hole 5 as his team came in third place, with a 9 under performance. Deione was driving like a champ, while he and Mark also went bogey free for a most impressive 10 down!! But guess who else was in the running... Steve B.? Coupled with CBass he couldn't go wrong, or could he? Steve's new putter was proving it's worth today, knocking in several clutch putts that propelled the duo to an unprecedented league score of -13!!!

As the players stepped on to the first tee this morning, they may have been questioning their leaders judgment to play in such inclement weather. None the less, they planned to fend off CBass as well as the elements en route to a league victory.
Six players started the round, but the numbers dwindled to four as Ronnie and Ryan found the their skills inundated by the storm. Low and behold it was Sam who held the early lead and threatened to move up in the tag rankings as the players headed towards the back nine. Perhaps it was the competition, the elements, or just Sam's mouth that got the better of him as he relinquished his lead to none other than old reliable, numero uno. ELbo seemed focused as usual, but came up short once again, bogeying 6 of the last eight holes to finish in a familiar third place. While still in the running, disappointment gave way to frustration as Sam's double circle 7 on hole 15, coupled with dunking a disc in the muddy pond, was apparently the last straw. Although a move up the ladder was a gimmie at this point, Sam walked off the course on hole 18!! With Sam completely out of the picture, Brad could now set his sights firmly on a position he has not yet seen, #2! Congratulations!!!